She Picked Out Her Dress on Monday...

 ...and The Daddy wore a tie with flowers and butterflies on it. They just so happened to match one another.

HJ wanted pink cheeks, sparkly eyes and lipstick. She wanted to look her BEST.

Her corsage was a little loose,

but it perfectly matched her nails.  

They're on a date tonight!

The Encounter

Last weeks of summer, so what does a mama do? Squeeze in all the things she said we'd do at the beginning.

On a whim, I took the brood to the butterfly encounter at one of our local nurseries. We bought a season pass in the spring, and it has proved to be well worth the money. I also got to pick up a few plants for around our yard while we were there.

I let the girls get dressed by themselves. AE looks adorable and Christopher Robin-ish in her rain boots, but why did HJ choose AE's old soccer jersey? I love that she paired the jersey with some beachy, terry shorts, ruffled eyelet socks and her "fast shoes."

I dressed the baby.

Love how they just hung those Adirondack chairs up in the pine tree!

My loot:

The butterfly encounter is a multi-room exhibit, landscaped with all manner of nectar producing plants.

It is all enclosed in a greenhouse-like structure, so you can imagine the warmth on a lovely day in August. In central Florida. In August. To be fair, we did have a nice overcast morning that I THOUGHT would make it a little more bearable.

There are lovely water features and garden art.

When you enter, you get a chart detailing the different varieties of butterflies and many instructions on how to behave inside. No chasing the button quail, no touching or catching the butterflies, except inside the designated area where you can feed them Gatorade.

Can you see the wings in motion up above? That little beauty would NOT sit still!

Inside the approved "feeding" station

Toward the end of the exhibit, there is a nice little surprise collection of finches.

Some are quite colorful.

This little blue guy was my favorite.

The girls of course love the rainbow colored ones.

If you squint, you can see the sweet little hummingbird that I was lucky to catch for half a second as she rested on this empty branch. One of the nursery employees was rehabilitating the sweet bird and brought her to work with him that day.

These are the sweet button quail that run around on the ground all throughout the encounter. They are hard to get a picture without laying down on the ground, but these old girls were roosting and preening right by the exit, so I was able to finally get a shot.

The colors and flowers throughout are gorgeous:

And so is our little button-nosed baby boy:

Art Class

Our neighbor, B.B. took the girls a couple weeks ago to an art class along with her grandson. She did me an ENORMOUS favor by leaving me to my cleaning and baby rocking in a quiet house. Another day, she took SJ and The Crazy Dog for a walk while I got ready for a date with The Daddy.

I tell you what...Florida has good neighbors. We've got them on all sides and are so thankful that though we are hours and hundreds of miles away from family, we've got our own little niche here in our part of Florida.

Back to the art.

The girls made pinch pots and used various leaves to make impressions in the clay.

HJ's is certainly Auburn appropriate. Blue on one side.

Orange on the other.

I love the colors that AE used on her bowl:

I came to class with the girls after the firing so they could do the under glazing.

I may or may not have suggested a few combinations.

Pretty gorgeous work by our gorgeous girls!

The Special Y

The sun was in their eyes.

We made a special trip to the "fancy" and "special" YMCA last week with a group of several of us "Y" moms. SJ stayed with a babysitter, so I got to work out while the girls played in the childcare center. Then the girls each took a swimming test to see what kind of skills they have.

Each girl did well on her test: HJ got a red band (I had to be in the water WITH her) and AE got a yellow band (she could go anywhere except the deep lanes by herself).

Oh, what a fun place! The water stays NICE and COLD in this pool because of the circulation from those big fountain thingys.

The slide was serious fun! Even the moms went down.

Might make a weekly trek down to enjoy this one again.

Welcome to Florida! It is hot.

We are doing anything we can to keep cool here. Last week we went with friends to a local beach on the lake which butts up to our neighborhood. SJ and I stayed on a blanket in the shade while all the children played at the water's edge.

The very next day, they issued an amoeba warning. We won't be going back until it cools down (a lot) and we get enough rain.

So, back to the splash pad/bubble fountain. You can smell the chlorine as you approach, so no chances of our brains being eaten by amoeba and dying.

We met the Bishops and a few other friends for a picnic and water time.

SJ screamed when I set him down at the edge of the splash zone. Not ready just yet.

Other ideas for keeping cool here: library, science center, slip and slide, sprinkler, our neighbor's pool, heading north for the summer...